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Child poverty rate in Colorado rises above prerecession years

A two-year-old tries to pick up a bag of bread that she and her mom gathered up at the JeffCo Action Center in April 2010. (Judy DeHaas, Denver Post file photo)

Despite an improving economy, more Colorado children were living in poverty in 2012 than at the trough of the economic downturn, according to an annual report that evaluates the well-being of children in the state.

"We see many areas in Colorado that have not yet begun to feel the economic recovery and are still struggling with the lingering effects of the economic downturn," said Sarah Hughes, research director for the Colorado Children's Campaign, a nonprofit organization that produces the annual Kids Count in Colorado report.

About 224,000, or 18 percent, of the state's more than 1 million children lived below the poverty threshold of $23,000 in annual income for a family of four in 2012, according to the Kids Count report set for release Monday. The numbers signal a rise in child poverty since the recession, when 210,000, or 17 percent, of youngsters in the state were from poor families.

Gov. John Hickenlooper said the report highlights the long-term impact that poverty and lack of opportunity have on children.

"It's up to all of us — parents, leaders, lawmakers, educators and community members — to make sure Colorado's children are equipped with the skills they need to have successful futures," Hickenlooper said in a statement to The Denver Post.

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Black children were hit the hardest over the five years covered in the report. The number of black children living in poverty spiked from 28 percent in 2007 to 41 percent in 2012. Latino children have the second-highest rate of poverty, at 31 percent, but the number was flat from 2007 to 2012.

Hughes said the increasing rate of poverty among minorities, low graduation rates and the high need for remediation upon entering college are troubling trends that must be remedied as the state's minority population grows. According to the report, nine of every 10 black students and 78 percent of Latinos need remediation when they enter two-year colleges, compared with 57 percent of white students.

"Children of color tend to do worse on almost all outcomes of child well-being than non-Hispanic white children," Hughes said. "If we have a workforce that grew up in poverty, that didn't graduate from high school on time and faced overall more difficult chances in their lives, then that doesn't bode well, not only for those kids but the future of the state as a whole."

The report examines economic, education, health and family data to rank the 25 largest counties in Colorado based on the well-being of children.

Douglas County, with a child poverty rate of 4.9 percent, ranked the best for the third consecutive year. Denver County, where one in every four children live in poverty, reserved its spot at the bottom of the list for child well-being.